Securing a fragile object in a particular position for manipulation or transportation has application in many fields. Specifically in the medical field, the fragile body of a surgical patient must be maintained in a proper position for the duration of many surgical procedures. This typically involves securing the patient to a flat operating table. The patient's position is then supported through the use of disposable padding such as foam “egg crate” material in a manner intended to minimize pressure points. Efforts to secure the extremities usually involve tape, straps, sheets, blankets, towels, and/or additional egg crate. Frequently, the patient is secured to the operating table by her own weight.
Once the anesthetized patient is positioned and gravitationally secured, they are normally fully draped, obscuring all further direct visual observation of the positioning mechanism. Certain positions and procedures carry increased risk for particular positioning difficulties and inherently carry risk for specific injuries to patients. For example, while placing a gynecology patient's legs in stirrups attached to the operating table, care must be taken to properly position her legs so as not to create too much pressure on the large nerves that supply the lower limbs to prevent permanent paralysis of certain muscle groups in her legs. The presence of view-impairing patient draping greatly increases the risk that the surgical team will be unaware of a patient body or limb shift at any time once the surgical procedure has begun.
During surgeries, the surgeon will often adjust the position of the patient support surface of the operating table to give the surgeon better access to the treatment area by shifting away pressure from the patient's internal organs. Positions such as Trendelenburg or Reverse Trendelenburg are common and essentially tilt the head of the bed toward the ground and vice versa, respectively.
These positions typically result in a dramatic change in the gravitational forces that are keeping the patient in position on the table. In surgery where steep Trendelenburg is required, such as laparoscopy and even robotic surgery, patients can slide toward the head of the bed. This sliding negates the earlier time investment in positioning precautions and can result in injury to the patient. Generally, shoulder pads cannot be used due to the increased risk of nervous injury in the upper extremities.
If the patient's overall body position shifts during a robotic surgery, the robotic surgery machine does not have the capacity to shift with the patient. Any shift in the patient's body during robotic surgery puts the patient at risk of injury to the point of surgery as well as any extremities that could be contacted by the robotic arm.
A more modern solution to positioning patients is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,353 to Van Steenburg, which discloses a patient support system with a series of vacuum-bags filled with beads. In a relaxed state, the vacuum-bags are flexibly positioned around the patient's body. The air is then removed from the bags, leaving a rigid, solid support wall that surrounds the patient's body.
Many non-surgical medical applications require the patient to be immobilized, such as therapeutic systems, patient imaging, and post-operative recovery. Many therapy systems rely on significant strapping pressures to stabilize a patient. This can result in considerable discomfort and has potential to cause damage due to excessive pressure to certain locations. This can result in considerable discomfort and tissue trauma.
In patient imaging, the patient is often supine on a flat or nearly flat surface and may or may not be strapped or otherwise secured in place on that surface. If the unsecured patient cannot be convinced to remain still during the procedure (such as infants, small children, or the elderly with associated senility or other mental state altering condition), then the imaging resulting from the procedure may be compromised or even unusable.
Securely and rapidly grasping objects, especially those of irregular shape or fragile construction, has proven to be an obstacle to efficiency and profitability.